National coach Kurt Innes has sent in a report on the 2003 Track World Championships, currently underway in Copenhagen, Denmark

Hello all, finally able to access e-mail in Denmark.

Day 3 of racing is half over and our youngest Canadian athlete here participating, Laura Yoisten (Calgary), has finished her 1st senior elite world championships. Laura started off on day 1 racing in the keirin competition, where she raced very well. She missed making the 6-12 final by 1 spot in the repechage round, and really raced very well. Her tactical awareness, and her overall skill level is very advanced. The problem lies in the absolute speed of these women. The top 18 women in the world are here to compete for world titles, and Laura (a last minute replacement for Lori-Ann Muenzer of Edmonton) is here simply to learn and perform at her personal best.

Personal best times are what Laura continued to do on day 2 of the worlds, where she placed 18th in the womens 500 Meter with a time of 38.1. This is just over 3 seconds behind the world champions time, but again Laura is 19 and she will be looking to pick seconds up over the next couple years as she progresses towards this world class level.

Laura ended her 1st elite world championships today with a 19th place overall in the 200 Meter time trial. Her time of 13.1 was a seasonal best time. Laura was dissapointed with her 200Meter time today, but reality again must be realized as Laura competed over the 3 full days of these world track championships as a senior elite for the first time (she raced at the junior worlds last year) and did herself and Canada proud.

WIth a little over 3 weeks of preperation time prior to these Worlds (when she learned of Lori-Ann not being able to compete), Laura has really progressed emotionally and skill wise to be a very determined and motivated young woman. I am very confident that she will be leading our next wave of elite women on the track in the years to come.

Mandy Poitras of Vancouver begins her competition tomorrow with the women's points race.